Todays hike is to make it the the summit of Mt Monroe and stop off at the Lake Of The Clouds Hut. This is Rose’s first real hike and Shane’s first trip up above the tree line. After my Mt Eisenhower hike I can’t wait to get up on top and soak the views all in. Most of our trip will be above tree line today. We are taking Edmund’s Path to Crawford Path and simply returning back down the same trail estimated distance 9.8m mi RT.

Edmund’s Path is a reasonable hike with steady grade most of the way. It amazes me the amount of work Edmund’s and I presume others have done over the years to make the rock cribbing that keeps the trails grade easy in the later parts. I was using my hiking poles and bought a pair for Rosie as well. The poles help reduce stress on the knees and provide more stability. In the photo above looking at Mt Eisenhower you can see Edmund’s Path coming up on the right side and Crawford Path which we were on by this time.

We stopped here for lunch and to take in the views. On the way up Edmund’s Rose got a heel blister but it was doing o.k.. The weather was variable with large clouds, breaks of sun and dark stormy cloud cells at times. There didn’t seem much risk of any severe weather so we marked on down the trail.
The photo below is the summit(s) of Mt Monroe. If the clouds were a bit higher you would see Mt Washington almost between them. Once above tree line the walk is easy for the most part and the trail is well marked with stone cairns.

I wasn’t sure exactly which of the minor peaks was the Summit of Mt Monroe when we got close, so we actually hiked up both of them for the views. At this point in the trail the elevation gain for them wasn’t much. The photo below is taken as we ascended Mt Monroe and provides an excellent view of Crawford Path. The small round hill in the distance is Mt Eisenhower, the point in the center of the frame is Mt Franklin., directly behind it is Mt Jackson, then Mt Webster.

The weather was being cooperative as we did our summit shots. Again you can see Mt Eisenhower in the distance poking up. Most of Mt Monroe is boulder walking, large rocks that you can simply step up on and over. It like a giant hand simply grabbed them and poured them out like sand. It really contrasts the green of the trees and almost looks lunar or alien.
After we did Mt Monroe’s peaks we started down to the Lake Of The Clouds hut. This hut is the Largest of the huts in the White Mountain National Forest and bunks like 90 people. You still need reservations way in advance for a stay. The day we were up here the people were talking about the Meteor Shower that would be peaking tonight. What an awesome place to be for that!
Hopefully they will have a clear night..

After making the Hut we re-stocked our water bladders and had a snack. We could see the Cog Railway ascending the ridge across the way. The summit of Mt Washington looked real close , only about 1.25 miles away and 1000′ feet up which would be a solid hour and 20 each way in my guestimation. Given the distance we had crossed , the weather, Rose’s blister, we decided to just head on back.

So we started out on the Crawford Path but this time went around the back of Mt Monroe which actually the main route. This area provides unbelievable views towards the ravines and Mt Washington’s summit cone. The clouds started to break and gave us some great sunshine.

Looking back toward Mt Washington from Crawford Path, the summits of Monroe are on each side. It wasn’t long after this picture it started snowing these giant snowflakes bigger than silver dollars. It snowed for maybe 5 minutes and the sun was back out. Typical New England blink and the weather changes.
As we headed back down Edmund’s Path we stopped for a photo with the Danger sign. You do need to heed these warnings and make sure you are prepared. The weather can change on a dime and you have a long ways to go to get shelter.

On the way down Shane slipped on a wet rock and fell straight on his elbow. I couldn’t believe he didn’t break it, he was so lucky. Other than that it was a nice stroll back down the trail.
A great hike was had by all. After the hike we drove over to the Cog Railway station and took pictures of trip from below and Cog itself and headed home. Rosie survived and claims she will go again I hope so because she is my favorite company. Ten miles is a lot for a first hike but a day above tree line like we had made it seem like 10 minutes.

Here is Link to All the Pictures from our hike…What another memorable day!